The Court of Appeal has set aside a €521,082.26 summary judgment against Thomas Doran, finding that the bank’s pleadings did not explain how the sum claimed had been calculated.
The court remitted the proceedings to the High Court so the bank can make any application it considers appropriate to amend its pleadings in light of the ruling. It did not decide that Mr Doran owed nothing, nor did it send the case to a plenary hearing.
Allied Irish Banks plc and Everyday Finance DAC had sought judgment against Mr Doran and Thomas Scanlon over a loan account. In 2018, the High Court granted summary judgment against Mr Doran for €521,082.26, plus the costs of the application, with execution stayed for 28 days. The bank had already obtained judgment in default of appearance against Mr Scanlon in 2016; that judgment was not the subject of this appeal.
Mr Doran disputed his connection to the loan and said he had not signed a 2010 facility letter. A handwriting expert’s report was inconclusive on whether he had signed it. The Court of Appeal noted that the loan had originated in 2007 and that Mr Doran’s challenge to the 2010 letter did not, by itself, show a credible defence to the full indebtedness. It also said the 2010 letter could affect the interest calculation.
The appeal turned on a separate argument, which the court agreed to consider even though it had not been raised in the High Court. Applying the Supreme Court’s guidance in Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v O’Malley, the judges examined whether the bank had supplied enough information to establish a prima facie debt. They found that the summary summons did not set out an interest calculation, and that the interest rate varied over the life of the facility. The statement of account was not referenced in the pleading, and the amount of interest charged was not set out or specifically referred to.
The court therefore set aside the summary judgment and returned the proceedings to the High Court for the bank to consider an application to amend its pleadings. Its proposed costs order was that Mr Doran receive his High Court and appeal costs, subject to adjudication if not agreed, with execution stayed pending resolution of the proceedings. Any party seeking a different costs order had 21 days after electronic delivery of the judgment to notify the Court of Appeal Office; otherwise the orders, including the proposed costs order, would be perfected.